A New Chapter

Big change – we sold Calista!

We had always planned to sail Calista “as long as it’s fun” then sell and move on to other ways to travel. There are two main reasons we did it now.

1. Maintenance is really difficult when you are out in remote places and can’t get parts. This really came to a head in Tonga. There were a few important parts that I was able to purchase online with a promise of 2 week delivery. After waiting 7 weeks, the parts still had not arrived and we left Tonga. They arrived 4 weeks later, missing the promised delivery time by 9 weeks. As I looked at all the boat systems, I realized that there were many parts that could fail and significantly reduce the livability of the boat until fixed. This caused me considerable stress.
2. We love to travel and sailing is a GREAT way to travel. But not the only way, and there are some trips that are better other ways. When you own a sailboat, the only trips you do are sailing trips. It’s just too expensive to keep and maintain a boat while you are traveling elsewhere.

I talked to Peggy about the maintenance issues while we were in Tonga. This was a low point for me, as I had assumed I could get parts in Tonga – and I was wrong. I did not expect it to be any better in Fiji. Peggy was very understanding and was OK with selling. We both had mis-givings about selling, and if I had waited, I think I would have found things easier in Fiji and we would not have sold this year.

We engaged Anna Manach, a broker in Australia, who was highly recommended by other cruisers. She got us to film quite a number of videos about Calista and put them together into a great ad that she posted. She really knows how to present a boat and work through managing potential buyers. Our timeline was tight as we had to be back in the US by Sept2 and wanted to have a sale committed by then.

Plan B, if Calista did not sell quckly, was to keep her another year. But hurricane season was approaching and we would have had to return to Fiji from the US in October to either sail to New Zealand (out of the hurricane zone) or find something safe in Fiji that our insurance would be OK with. That would have been fine with us as we LOVED Fiji and would have liked to get another season cruising some of the many islands we had not visited.

As it turned out, interest was strong and we accepted an offer from Thomas, a German living in the Yukon area of Canada with his wife and four children. He runs a Yukon Adventure company and has lots of experience with boats. He came to Fiji for a ‘sea trial’ and inspection and liked what he saw. We quickly finalized the deal.

They say that the two best days of boat ownership are the day you buy the boat and the day you sell the boat. Our experience was that selling was bitter-sweet. I was happy to not be stressing about the maintenance. But we REALLY loved Calista. We had so many good times aboard. She was a great home for Peggy and me, and we had wonderful experiences sharing her with our friends. We miss Calista a lot, and are incredibly thankful to have had the opportunity to sail her to some of the most beautiful places in the world.

Now, on to other things! We have made four trips up to Northern CA since September. On January 8, 2025 Peggy and I left for 3 months in New Zealand. This will be primarily a land trip (3 short cruises in Fjordland) and we are very excited! In the fall we will visit Bozeman and Yellowstone with our friends Ray & Mary. And more in the works after that.

Even though this blog is titled “Sailing Calista” we will post our other travel adventures here. Stay tuned!